An electronic control device, which includes an electronic element for control and a printed circuit board on which the electronic element is mounted, is used in various fields.
An electronic control device such as an electronic control unit (ECU), which electronically controls various types of devices, is representatively mounted in a vehicle. The electronic control device serves to receive information from sensors, switches, or the like installed at various locations in the vehicle, process the received information, and perform various types of electronic control processes to improve ride quality and safety of the vehicle or provide a driver and an occupant with various types of conveniences.
Typically, the electronic control device is structured to include a housing, a printed circuit board (PCB) which is accommodated in the housing, and a connector which is coupled to one side of the circuit board so as to be connected to an external socket.
As an example, Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2017-0112324 (published on Oct. 12, 2017) discloses an electronic control device for a vehicle, in which a printed circuit board, which has a connector coupled at one side thereof, is accommodated in a housing, and a coupling portion of the connector is formed to be connected to an external device in a direction opposite to a direction in which the printed circuit board is inserted.
However, the electronic control device in the related art has a problem in that it is difficult to reduce an overall length of the housing and an overall length of the connector.
Meanwhile, multiple electronic elements need to be mounted on the printed circuit board because the electronic control device includes various control functions, but the number of mountable electronic elements is restricted due to the size of the printed circuit board. There is a drawback in that an increase in number of electronic elements to be mounted on the printed circuit board inevitably causes an increase in overall size of the electronic control device.